


Where the Sai Ends

by The_Jashinist



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Body Horror, Gen, The Void, let's get ready to talk about void things, malzahar has a third eye i'm obligated to add that tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-23 22:58:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14342757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Jashinist/pseuds/The_Jashinist
Summary: Taliyah ventures into the Sai following a cry for help, and helps in a different way.





	Where the Sai Ends

**Author's Note:**

> If Malzahar is out of character, in fairness he has very few voice lines and I've been working with Lifewater too much.

It was a cry for help that led Taliyah into the Sai.  Normally, she’d avoid it like the plague, but the shouts led her to banish all logic and venture into the corpse-laden dunes.  Taliyah scanned the sand, looking for something alive-something that wasn’t a monster keen on tearing her to shreds.  She was expecting a monster.  Taliyah had never learned how to walk in the Sai, but she knew there was a way you were supposed to walk that kept the things in the sand at bay.

From behind, someone grabbed Taliyah’s wrist and twisted it behind her back and pressed sharp blade against Taliyah’s throat.

“Don’t make a sound,” a young man’s voice hissed, “You heard that scream, right?”

Taliyah nodded.

“Good,” the voice let out a relieved sigh, “I thought I was going sun-mad.  Wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Can you let go of me?” Taliyah whispered.  There was a pause before the blade was lifted and Taliyah’s arm was released.  Taliyah took a slow half-turn to see who she was talking to.

A young man in tattered clothes stood behind her, holding a curved knife in one hand.  Glowing Icathian letters were etched into the blade, and the hilt was bound with violet cloth.  The young man’s dark hair was pulled back on one side, pinned in place by brass clips, the rest falling in loose curls.  The young man sheathed the knife and edged closer to Taliyah.  Under a few wayward curls, Taliyah noticed a vibrant blue eye fixed on the young man’s forehead that almost looked as if it were glowing.

“Did you wander into the Sai, following a scream?” he asked, his voice low.  Taliyah nodded.

“I thought you were asking because you did the same,” Taliyah whispered.  The boy shook his head.

“I wanted to see a xer’sai,” he replied, a crooked grin creeping across his face.

“Why?” Taliyah asked.

“Let me show you,” the boy took Taliyah’s hand and led her to a gaping tunnel in the sand.  A glimmer of excitement flashed in his eyes as he explained in a hushed voice that the burrows led deeper, into the very entrance of the Void itself.  Taliyah heard the words, and a creeping unease fell over her as she realized she was talking to a madman.

The young man’s tirade cut off, and he looked into the distance, searching the horizon with soft violet eyes.  A plume of sand rose from the dunes in the distance, racing towards them.  As the cloud drew nearer, Taliyah felt the hair on her neck stand on end.  The young man’s face went pale.

“Run,” he said, his voice taking a level tone, but the warning came too late.  The cloud hit the sand dune in front of them and both of them barely leapt out of the way of the monster that followed it.  This thing easily dwarfed any animal she’d seen before, perhaps even a dragon.

The creature turned its face towards the young man, scrambling back in panic.

“Don’t move,” Taliyah hissed urgently, but the boy was beyond listening, his breath had pitched up and Taliyah had a feeling it wasn’t the xer’sai’s appearance that frightened him so.

The monster drew closer to the young man, until it loomed over him, mouth open wide.  The eye on the young man’s forehead let out a flash of indigo light that caught the xer’sai in the face.  The creature reeled back, and both the young man and Taliyah took this moment to run for the edge of the Sai, stumbling over the sand.

“That’s a real eye?” Taliyah raised her voice, a question coming to her.  The young man gave a frantic nod before tripping over something buried in the dune, hitting the ground and wincing.  Taliyah forgot the panic of the monstrous xer’sai and ran to help.  A jagged shard of what Taliyah hoped was not bone jutted out from the dune.  It had carved a sizeable gash into the young man’s ankle, and the skin around it was already turning a sickly blackish-purple.  He’d be lucky if he could put any weight on it, let alone walk.

The monster crawled over the sand, snarling low as it approached.

“Go,” the boy insisted through clenched teeth, his ankle was clearly causing significant pain.  Taliyah shook her head.

“I’m not leaving you.”

“Yes, you are,” the boy pushed Taliyah towards the edge of the Sai, “go.”

Taliyah didn’t go.

“Goddammit girl she’s looking for me!” he shouted, “GO!”

A blast of something hit a dune nearby, and the creature edged closer and closer, it’s maw wide.  Taliyah gripped the boy’s hand tightly.  She felt his nails digging into her skin.

“What’s your name?” the boy asked, “Figure I should know the person I’m about to die with.”

“Taliyah.”

The boy gave a curt nod, “Malzahar.”

“Happy to meet you,” Taliyah smiled weakly as the monster loomed over them.

“Mm,” Malzahar nodded.

There was a flash of violet and a shout of “move”, startling Taliyah into diving out of the way as a bolt of Void energy struck the xer’sai across the face.  Malzahar scrambled away from the xer’sai, dragging his bad leg behind him, but he wasn’t getting far.  Taliyah ran back into the line of fire to help Malzahar to his feet, and the voice that shouted for them to move spoke again.

“Make for the edge, I will meet you there.”

Taliyah stumbled across the sand.  Sure enough, Malzahar couldn’t put any weight on his ankle, and thus was supporting half his weight on her.  Trying to compensate was no small task.

“Here,” Malzahar hissed after a few minutes, “I can’t feel the Void under us anymore.”

Taliyah continued a few feet and collapsed into the sand, taking Malzahar with.

“Thanks,” Malzahar muttered.  After a moment, a figure, human-like but not, stepped into view.  Taliyah tensed and stood, realizing it was almost Voidlike in nature, a human form with a many-eyed mask where a face would be.

The form raised a black hand and made a motion near the mask, it faded, revealing the face of young woman with pale skin and dark hair.  It didn’t hide the Void marking her, but it was at least a little comforting to see a human face.

“That is broken,” the woman knelt in front of Malzahar.  In a quick motion, she set the ankle with a loud crack.  Malzahar flinched.

“I didn’t notice,” Malzahar snapped.  Taliyah dug into her bag and withdrew a roll of bandages.  Wordlessly, she bound Malzahar’s ankle tightly, looking back at the woman every so often.

“Thank you,” she said softly, “for saving us.”

“I can understand an idiot prophet,” the woman stood, ignoring Malzahar’s irritated growl, “but what were you doing in the Sai?”

“I went in to help someone,” Taliyah replied, realizing how utterly stupid that sounded.

The woman let out a soft sigh, “Trying to help does no good in the Void.”

“Then why help us?” Malzahar raised his voice, an edge of hostility to his voice, “You call her stupid, but without her, I’d be dead, the xer’sai was after me.”

“And why was it after you?” the woman asked.  Malzahar flinched and looked down.

“Why was it after you?” Taliyah asked, furrowing her brow.

“Void,” Malzahar lifted his bad leg carefully with both hands and rested it on his other leg, “I opened my mind to the Void, and now Voidspawn seek me out.  Any questions?”

“Why?” Taliyah asked.

“Because not everyone grows up with a family, much less one that loves you,” Malzahar replied, “it’s hard to have hope when you have nothing.”

Taliyah looked at the eye on Malzahar’s forehead and noticed the pupil shift towards her.

“Can it see?” Taliyah asked.  Malzahar nodded.

“Not well though,” he clarified, “Voidspawn have poor eyesight.”

“But you don’t,” Taliyah reasoned.

“It’s a relic of the Void’s stain on him,” the woman brushed Malzahar’s hair from his forehead, “the corruption will never leave, you will carry it for the rest of your life.”

“I don’t think that’s so bad,” Malzahar reasoned.

“That’s because you were lucky, the Void could have done worse,” the woman snapped, “a third eye, a second skin, these are nothing compared to what the Void has warped men into.  The Void wasn’t interested in warping you, it wanted to use you.”

“Yes you’re very wise,” Malzahar sneered, “a predator like the rest of the things in the dark places of the world.”

“That is how you survive the Void,” the woman stood tall and firm, “become the predator, or die.”

“Become the Void,” Malzahar corrected, “it doesn’t differentiate.  It’s all Void as far as the Void is concerned.”

“Then there’s a middle ground,” Taliyah pointed out, “between becoming like the Void and letting it kill you.”

“I wish there was,” the woman began, but was cut off.

“Have you tried?” Taliyah stood, “Has anyone tried?

The two looked at each other, regarding the other quietly before shaking their heads.

“Then someone should,” Taliyah insisted, “someone should try.”

The woman cracked a smile, “What is your name?”

“Taliyah.”

The woman smiled and helped Malzahar to his feet, letting him lean on her for support.

“If you are both now willing to fight the Void.”

“Consider that a yes,” Malzahar muttered, “not like I have another choice.”

“My name is Kai’Sa,” she smiled slightly, continuing despite Malzahar’s interruption, “and I am happy for the help.”


End file.
